By Todd Bardwick, National Chess Master

With summer just around the corner, it's time to start thinking about what camps and activities to send the kids to.

The summer of 2008 is the Chess Academy of Denver's 14 th year for the Rocky Mountain Chess Camps, one of the countries' largest and oldest chess camps in the nation.

Summer chess is great for kids because it is fun to play and keeps the brain working when school is out of session. Chess has strong connections with math and the strategies learned have real-life and sports applications.

The Rocky Mountain Chess Camps are for all ages (6-18) and abilities (Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced). The five-day camp runs from June 9-13 (full and half-day options available) in southeast Denver and the three-day camp runs from July 14-16 near Washington Park. Classes are formed by age and ability. Students get group instruction on all aspects of the game, play in a tournament (with trophies to the winners), and even get to gang up on the instructors in a simultaneous exhibition.

The Chess Academy of Denver also offers two-day chess camps near the Denver Tech Center for specific ability levels: July 7-8 (Intermediate); July 21-22 (Beginner); July 23-24 (Intermediate); and July 28-29 (Intermediate/Advanced).

Also offered by the Chess Academy of Denver are chess tournaments for children in rated and unrated divisions that run throughout the year.

For information, call 303-770-6696 or visit www.ColoradoMasterChess.com.